Lizzie Harper Illustrator

The Black Death’s counterintuitive effect: as human numbers fell, so did plant diversity New study finds that plant biodiversity collapsed in landscapes where arable production was abandoned during and after the Black Death era.

Very interesting! Thank you @beccyscottuk.bsky.social

theconversation.com/the-black-de...

Crop Trust illustration: Ginseng - Lizzie Harper Crop Trust illustration: Ginseng shows the botanical illustration of this crop by Lizzie Harper and discusses the uses of ginseng

New blog out, it's on Ginseng. I illustrated this crop plant, and a few others, for The Crop Trust, then decided I wanted to know more about it:

lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/03/crop...

#ginseng #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #byhand #sciart #naturalscienceillustration #NoAI #cropplants

Polka dot wasp Syntomeida epilais showing a moth with wings outstretched. The wings are metallic black with green and blue highlights. There are 5 large white spots of each set of wings, and also on the furry body. The terminal abdominal segments are a striking rusty scarlet. Legs are black with white tarsi, and the tips of the black antennae are also white. Watercolour #sciart #naturalscienceillustration completed by hand.

This is the Polka dot wasp #moth #Syntomeida epilais, also known as the #Oleander moth (on which its yellow caterpillars with their long black setae feed voraciously). Completed for the National Trust of #Montserrat, & UKOTCF. It's used in a colouring book, in a section about patterns in nature.

Poplar CLE peptides promoting ectomycorrhizal symbiosis identified through genome-wide analysis of responsive small secreted peptides Trees use CLAVATA3/EMBRYO SURROUNDING REGION-related (CLE) peptides to promote ectomycorrhizal symbiosis, revealing an additional regulatory layer in tree–

🧵 New paper out in @PlantPhysiology! We asked: how do trees talk to their fungal partners during ectomycorrhizal symbiosis? Turns out, tiny secreted peptides play a big role. 1/

Read the full paper here 👇
academic.oup.com/plphys/advan...

🚨Our cross-journal special feature is open to proposals!🚨

🐛Focus: how climate change affects plant–antagonist interactions, including those involving phytophagous insects, plant pathogens and more

💡Find out more: buff.ly/fFy6ker

@jappliedecology.bsky.social
@journalofecology.bsky.social

🧪🌍️

Check out this great opportunity to join the @kamounlab.bsky.social!

Apply online by 16 March 2026

www.tsl.ac.uk/working-at-t...

#PlantSciJobs #PlantScience #STEMJobs

There is a vacancy in our project 'Pages of Prayer: The Ecosystem of Vernacular Prayer Books in the Late Medieval Low Countries, c. 1380-1550' for a junior or postdoctoral researcher! #medievalsky
careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Junior-R...

Lots of new features on ichsofna.org:

- species lists now provide complete synonym history
- hover over a species name to see a popup with images (if available), a distribution map, and a list of recorded hosts
- toggle species between Nearctic and worldwide
#ichneumonidae #insects #entomology

Looking for Entomology courses? RES advertisement featuring a Broom Weevil, Exapion fuscirostre (c) Timothy Sexton 2016

🐞 Interested in taking a #course in #entomology?

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Antillean crested hummingbird male Orthorhyncus cristatus, #sciart #illustration in watercolour, cut to white. The male has his crest erect and is in flight, hovering above the branch of a guava tree, with it's smooth dark green leaves. It has a white throat and black eye band and belly. Much of the plumage is an irridescent green, shown by painting the feathers dark green with stark vivid yellow and bright green highlights.

This second image shows the male from the first picture alongside a female of the same species. She is looking ion the other direction, pretending to be oblivious to his crest and his posturning. She is sitting on the branch of the guava. Here colouring is a little yellower than that of the male, but still irridescent. She is looing to the right, her head in profile, with her back and tail facing us. Cut to white #sciart #naturalhistoryillustration completed for #montserrat national trust.

Page from the colouring in book featuring the humming birds with accompanying text. There is an illustration of a Montserrat anole on the same page, along with my #botancialillustration of the Resurrection fern and the Broad leaf plantain. A strip of green on the far right show the illustrations feature on the "Biodiversity Rainbow: Green" page of the booklet.

Page from the colouring in book featuring the humming birds as black and white line drawings to colour in. There is a line drawing of a Montserrat anole on the same page. Both feature on the "Biodiversity Rainbow: Green" page of the booklet.

This is the Antillean crested #hummingbird #Orthorhyncus cristatus.

I painted a pair for Montserrat National Trust & UKOTCF. They feature in a lovely "Montserrat's Biodiversity Rainbow" educational booklet, which I'm loving.

There's a black and white version too, to colour in.

Cut to white watercolour illustration of the Green sea turtle, pacing right with front flippers outstretched and face in profile.

Here's another of the #naturalhistoryillustrations I did of #Montserrat wildlife. This is the #Greenseaturtle, #Cheloniamydas.

The pattern of the shell is tough to try and capture. Lots of layers of paint, and treating each scute individually.

#seaturtle #naturalscienceillustration #sciart

How I became a Botanical & Natural history Illustrator YouTube video by Lizzie Harper

I'm often asked how I got to be a #botanicalillustrator, & how to start out.

youtu.be/KALAt7xaiE8

This film explains this, my work, passions, how I got here, and how I promote myself.

(Its just me talking to the camera)

#illustration #naturalhistoryillustration #sciart #illustrator

Now THAT is something exciting. Thankyou!

Watercolour #naturalhistoryillustration done #byhand showing the sea slug curving towards the viewer. Its body is green with white spots, the frills are sky blue and froth along it's back, obscuring the main body. At the head end are two furled tentacles, also blue but flushed magenta. Illustration is cut to white.

Pen and ink line drawing done by hand of the same subject in the same pose. In effect, a pen tracing of the watercolour. Cut top white. Patterns represented with stippled or dotted lines, edges of body planes with solid black ink lines. Destined to be used for colouring in and e3ducational resources on the island of Montserrat.

This is the Lettuce #seaslug #Elysia crispata, found in the #Caribbean. Completed #sciart #illustration for Montserrat national trust, one version in watercolour, one in pen and ink.

Blue is unusual in nature, so working on such an insanely glorious animal was, of course, a massive treat.

Thanks! The client wants changes, I thought they might, but fingers crossed I can make them without compromising the illustration. The client, alas, is always right! 😅

#watercolor #sciart #illustration of a St Cecelia variety of #apple cut to white. Its a red apple with a warm yellow skin and a wide area of russetting by the stalk.

Desk showing two apples and their accompanying illustrations, alongside other apples and my paintbox. #watercolor #sciart #illustration of a St Cecelia variety of #apple cut to white. Its a red apple with a warm yellow skin and a wide area of russetting by the stalk. #naturalhistoryilliustration #botanicalillustration #botanicalart #fruit #malus

Spent the day illustrating this St. Cecelia apple for a commission.

#Apples are some of the toughest things to #illustrate, I struggle with the waxy shine and depth of colour. This time its gone ok.

And now....I can eat them!

#watercolour #naturalscience #illustration of Bloody-nosed beetle Timarcha tenebricosa, with the beetle seen from the side, pointing to the right. it's exuding a scarlet drop of liquid from it's mouth. The beetle is black with a smooth sheen and is shown in 3/4 view, with 3 legs showing on the near side and only the foot of the back leg visible on the far side. The highlights are painted so tiny black pores from the elytra can be seen in the shiny areas, and in the darkest black areas tiny white dots of gouache are used to suggest the pores on the wing cases.. Feet are comparatively large with each tarsal segment being fringed with grown. The beetle's eye is a chestnut brown.. As with everything I do, this is painted by hand without the aid of AI. It's one of my favourite #UKbeetles, so I was glad when it popped up on the species list commissioned for South Devon National Landscapes. It'll be used on information boards and leaflets, and on interpretation relating to their push to preserve environments beneficial to #insect species.

This is the #Bloody-nosedbeetle, #Timarchatenebricosa.

When threatened it exudes a red drop of liquid from its mouth

It has distinctive beaded antennae.Unlike most #beetles, it's flightless

Completed in watercolour for use on #interp & information materials.
#sciart #naturalhistoryillustration

RSB BERG Plant Science Education Working Group will be at the ASE annual conference 2026 tomorrow on Thursday 8 January. Join us at our session "Solutions-based approaches to teaching primary/secondary plant science" 12.25 - 1.20 pm Coates C27
sched.co/1yMpk
#plantscience

If (like me) you are HIV+, on treatment and living in Europe, please take part in the Ask Us study.
Our research should help ensure people get the best treatment for their needs.
Trans and neurodiverse respondents particularly welcomed - more data is needed for these groups.
bit.ly/4m5ktRm

In C Europe, there is a push to align forest management more closely with natural processes, but is this "closer-to-nature" management able to sustain biodiversity and ecosystem services? Great synthesis led by @anastritih.bsky.social with input from many leading experts! doi.org/10.1007/s407...

Close up of the flowering head of the Jersey orchid showing purple flowers at the tip of a flowering spike

Desk with completed watercolour painting of orchid on along with photo reference, my paintbox full of mixes of red paint, a magnifier, a brush and an eraser. The species is a red flowered Early marsh orchid.

Part of a labelled pen and ink diagram showing the anatomy of orchid flowers, this mentions the rostellum, perianths, pollinium, column, stigmatic surface, and spur. #sciart

Watercolour of a pyramidal orchid with compact head and pale green leaf and stem. The plant is long and thin so much of the image is black background.

New blog out, on #Orchids

lizzieharper.co.uk/2026/01/wild...

It's one of a series I've been doing on wildflower families. Hope it helps!

#naturalhistoryillustration #botanicalart #botanicalillustration #orchidlovers #orchidaceae #wildflowers

The rainbow coloured Plymouth anole #lizard, found on the #Caribbean island of Montserrat. The head is vivid green with a yellow chin and throat flap, the tail gets bluer and is almost pin and purple at the tip. The lizard has deep orange eyes and very long toes. I saw one scuttle across the path and the colours really were astonishing. This is a cut to white watercolour illustration with the lizard raising its' head slightly and facing right. The tail curls a little and the back foot shows outstretched toes.

Pen and ink illustration of the rainbow coloured Plymouth anole lizard. Details of the tecture and markings of the lizard skin are represented with stippled in lines, the main shapes are a solid black ink line. The illustrations is atonal, and destined to be used in a colouring in book. I create these pen and ink illustrations by tracing the watercolour, either using a light box or a desk-mounted projector.

Detail of the tail and hind leg of the Plymouth anole. There are a few white spots of the thigh, but the remarkable thing is the way the tail fades from a vivid spring green through teal to turquoise, and the tail tip is a pink magenta.

Detail of the head of the Plymouth anole, The individual scales on the edge of the lip are shown, along with white spots of the lizards bright green skin. The eyes and surrounding sockets are a reddish orange, and the throat flap is a bright yellow, The folds in this are clearly visible.

The #Plymouth #anole #lizard #Anolislividus

It's another #sciart #watercolor #illustration completed for #Montserrat National Trust educational materials (the #penandink to be used in colouring books)

#naturalhistoryillustration #naturalscienceillustration #madebyhand #NoToAIGeneratedImages

Parasite infections at the Roman fort of Vindolanda by Hadrian's Wall, UK Archaeological sediments can be used to retrieve evidence for parasites that infected past populations, giving evidence for disease, diet, sanitation, and migration in the past. To increase our unders...

'Parasite infections at the Roman fort of Vindolanda by Hadrian's Wall, UK'

With other words, the Romans were mucky boys too ;)
www.academia.edu/145477702/Pa...

Long‐term trends in parasite diversity and infection levels: approaches and patterns Parasites exist in every ecosystem, affecting nearly all organisms and playing a complex role in human societies. On the one hand, they contribute substantially to biodiversity and support ecosystem ...

Our latest paper in Biol Rev. Parasites are vital parts of ecosystems. Because we lack long-term data, we still don't know how human-driven environmental change is affecting their diversity. Better, sustained monitoring is needed. doi.org/10.1002/brv.... @impact-parasites.bsky.social 🧪

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Agricultural and Forest Entomology journal cover showing a detailed beetle image, announcing an Editor-in-Chief search.

The RES Publications is seeking a new Co Editor-in-Chief for Agricultural and Forest Entomology! Applications welcome from active and enthusiastic researchers in the field.

➡️ Find out more about the role: https://ow.ly/xRhP50XKoG0

#entomology

Newly discovered mantis species dances like a snake to avoid death after sex The snake-tail mantis shows there’s more to these insects than just cannibalism.

Excited to share my interview with National Geographic! We discussed our discovery of the Snake-tail Dwarf 🐍🦗, which challenges what we know about sex and ethology. It uses complex "dances" to survive courtship and sexual cannibalism.

#Entomology #Science #Biology #Sciencenews #NationalGeographic

Looking for Entomology courses? RES advertisement featuring a Broom Weevil, Exapion fuscirostre (c) Timothy Sexton 2016

🐞 Interested in taking a #course in #entomology?

We’ve compiled a list of institutions in the UK and Ireland offering full and part-time #entomologically-related courses to help you build a #career in #InsectScience 🔽

🔗 buff.ly/KN0kqyb

#Education #Research #Science

Plant and habitat identification skills, 3-day plant identification course, June 24-26 2026, Middlesbrough, Northeast England. I am thrilled to offer a new 3‑day botany course from Teesside University. The Plant and Habitat Identification CPD Masterclass is an in‑person course taking place in the Tees Valley in the Northeast of England in June 2026 – More details following this link. The idea behind this course is to offer participants skills, practice, and access to resources that will help them gain independence in their learning…

Plant and habitat identification skills, 3-day plant identification course, June 24-26 2026, Middlesbrough, Northeast England.

I am thrilled to offer a new 3‑day botany course from Teesside University. The Plant and Habitat Identification CPD Masterclass is an in‑person course taking place in the…

Assessing the success of a horizon scanning approach in predicting invasive non‐native species arrival We conclude that horizon scanning provides a rapid, affordable and successful mechanism to predict the arrival of high-risk INNS. We highlight the importance of citizen science, including biological ....

The process involves a systematic examination by experts to identify species that could establish in a new region and threaten biodiversity, ecosystems or human health.

New study led by Jodey Peyton published in @jappliedecology.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

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